Take charge of your super
How combining your super could save you hundreds of dollars each year
Camilla Bird, a 27-year-old apprentice mechanic from Sydney, may be a long way off finishing work but she can already picture her retirement years.
Camilla has her heart set on retiring to the country when the time comes and living her dream of establishing an organic food production operation.
“Before I got my start as a motor apprentice, I took jobs in hospitality and administration to make ends meet,’’ she said.
“I had multiple super accounts with small balances, slowly being eaten away by fees so I did some research and decided to open an account with MTAA super and roll everything in.”
Camilla intends to carve out a long career in motoring. Further down the track, she’d like to return to her farmland roots where she learned the lessons of car care early.
Camilla is one of a growing number of Aussies who have consolidated their super to save themselves the cost of multiple sets of fees and increase their overall savings.
MTAA Super CEO Leeanne Turner said the Fund offered a Supermatch service which searched for and consolidated members’ multiple super accounts for free.
“We received over 10,000 requests in 2016/2017 to search for lost super.”
“Most of the requests came through our online portal Member Super Site where members can elect to use their TFN to find their super.”
“The service is also available to new MTAA Super members at the time of joining the fund. During the July 2016–June 2017 period, we helped 970 MTAA Super members consolidate approximately $13M of super. This included super from their other accounts, unclaimed monies at AUSFund or undistributed government co-contributions at the ATO.”
Ms Turner said “Account fees which comprise administrative and investment fees can have a material impact on retirement balances. With 40% of Australians having two or more super accounts, multiple fees can result in hundreds of dollars in fees over the course of a year or tens of thousands over a 30-year working lifetime. Enabling our members to find and consolidate their super in an easy, streamlined way is critical to protecting their long-term retirement savings.”
As part of its 2017 Annual Statement mailout, MTAA Super introduced members to its new three step process which enables them to find and consolidate their super online. The search which requires members’ consent to use their TFN, queries the ATO’s unclaimed super monies database as well as the databases of other funds. If lost super or unclaimed money is located, it can be rolled into members’ accounts within 3-5 days. Over the coming months, MTAA Super will offer this capability directly from its website and Member Services portal so members can take this important step towards increasing their retirement savings.
Bring your super together
Read more about finding lost super, taking us with you to your new job, and combining your accounts.